


Ginny & Hermione Discuss Harry's Suspicious Behavior - Choices & Chocolate Cake

by Spectrespecs_vs_Wrackspurts



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crushes, Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, POV Ginny Weasley, Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29051991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spectrespecs_vs_Wrackspurts/pseuds/Spectrespecs_vs_Wrackspurts
Summary: Hermione is suspicious of Harry's behavior and decides to tell Ginny about it.  The two girls discuss what this means for Ginny while they share a slice of cake.
Relationships: Dean Thomas/Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Kudos: 23





	Ginny & Hermione Discuss Harry's Suspicious Behavior - Choices & Chocolate Cake

**Author's Note:**

> Just my own head cannon from Ginny's perspective that includes the friendship she and Hermione share that was alluded to in the books.
> 
> I've tried to line this up with the books as best I can. The books aren't mine and neither are the characters. 
> 
> Cheers!

Ginny was heading up the stairs to her dormitory two at a time. It hadn’t been a great day. Terrible really. The whole weekend had been a bust and it had seeped into Monday, draining her of patience. She was going to hex McLaggen into next week. She was going to hex Dean into next week. 

McLaggen had started things off with the worst performance she’d ever seen from a keeper, which was saying something as she had spent many a practice embarrassing Ron. Dean on the other hand had been an absolute prat. Laughing at Harry falling from his broom and then accusing her of always taking his side on things, of spending too much time with him. He was the Captain of the team, of course she was going to take his side. He was her brother’s best friend, and her friend now she supposed, especially since the Ministry, why shouldn't she spend time with him? Their biggest blow up had occurred yesterday evening in the Common Room. It had been spectacular. A shouting match that ended with them stomping off to opposite corners of the room to cool their tempers. He’d apologized and she thought it resolved but it bled into today. Dean had been both cold and possessive. He didn’t say much to her, but he kept the space between them tight, draping over her, she felt like territory he was claiming. It had grated her patience thin and she just need space to think. She burst into her dorm room, ready for a bit of peace, and saw Hermione, perched on her bed, reading. This wasn’t really an odd occurrence these days. Hermione had taken to hanging in Ginny’s dormitory rather than her own ever since Ron had decided to take his occupation of World’s Biggest Git to the next level.

“Hermione you would not BELIEVE the day I just had!” She began pacing, her aggravations coming off of her in waves. “I’ve had a stack of homework two feet high that I couldn’t work through this weekend because all I could think about was that boulder for brains McLaggen - HOW COULD YOU HAVE TAKEN HIM TO SLUGHORN’S PARTY?! He’s an absolute creep. I’ve never met a more self-important prat and I’m related to PERCY. AND then DEAN can’t get off this stupid argument we had yesterday. But does he want to talk about it? NO. He doesn’t want to talk at all. He just wants to skulk around me all day, grabbing me like he’s staking his claim and act like I’m too weak or too fragile to help myself through a doorway. Mind you that I AM THE BETTER ATHLETE BETWEEN THE TWO OF US! But does he care? NO! I can’t even finish my homework because he’s following me like a guard dog and hanging all over me, trying to snog me while I try and work, like GIVE IT A REST!”

Ginny took a deep breath and stopped pacing, she looked at Hermione who seemed a bit shocked at first at the rant… and then that stupid knowing look she sometimes got spread across her face. Brilliant. What now?

Ginny took another deep breath. “Hold that thought, I’ll be right back.” and she turned heel and ran back down the stairs. She was not in the mood for this right now. She was grumpy, annoyed with McLaggen, annoyed with Dean, annoyed with classes and O.W.L.s. But Hermione had been in such a state the past few weeks, she wouldn’t turn her friend away, even if she was wearing that stupid knowing look Ginny hated. So, she needed reinforcements. 

She headed for the kitchens and tickled the pear as Fred and George had shown her in her second year. Hopped into the kitchen and greeted the elves fondly, “I’ve had a bit of a day, could you lot spare a little pudding, cake maybe? I have some girl talk to get through and I find that chocolate always helps me around. Just a bit mind you!”

They delivered spectacularly. A large, spongy, sticky slice of chocolate cake on a plate, and two spoons in hand, she dashed back to the Common Room. She came back up the stairs into her dorm where Hermione was still sitting, reading. She didn’t announce her presence or intention, just walked right over and plopped down on her bed right next to Hermione, offering her a spoon. 

“What’s this for?” Hermione asked, accepting the spoon. 

“You have that look you get when you’ve been nosy.” Ginny answered, smearing some frosting off with her spoon. 

“I’m not nosy. Besides, I just brushed my teeth.” Hermione huffed.

“Your parents are dentals, just brush them again.” Ginny answered, licking the frosting off the spoon.

“Dentists” Hermione corrected.

“Whatever.” Ginny answered. She did not prompt further, but stared Hermione down, until she finally brought spoon to spongy cake and took a bite. 

Hermione hummed around her bite, “Not that I’m complaining, because this is a brilliant idea, but why cake?”

“Nosy look usually means girl talk. Girl talk calls for cake.” Ginny answered slightly thickly through a half full mouth. 

“At home, this would be ice cream,” Hermione answered longingly, staring down another bite.

Ginny moaned, “Oh that would be MUCH better. Bit difficult to get ahold of though. How long does it take muggles to churn ice cream normally?” Ginny asked, picking again at frosting. Hermione was a good partner in crime for sharing a slice of cake. Ginny preferred the sticky portions with frosting, while Hermione avoided them, aiming for chunks of cake. 

“It doesn’t. Well… I suppose you could, but most muggles just buy it. You can buy whole pint containers of them and just leave them in the freezer.” Ginny looked up at her, ready to ask what a freezer was, but Hermione beat her to it, “It’s a sort of box in your home that holds foods at certain temperatures. So you can keep ice cream in your home all the time. No charms needed, just pop them in the box to eat at your leisure.”

“Dad is right, muggles are brilliant.” Ginny answered, “Alright, out with it then. The sooner you spit out whatever is on your mind the sooner you get that look off your face.”

Hermione huffed, but grinned wider, “I told Harry that you and Dean had rowed the other night,” Ginny shot Hermione a look, but Hermione pressed on, knowing look still intact, unperturbed by the daggers Ginny was shooting with her eyes, “and he seemed rather interested. Rather interested indeed. Ron interrupted - “

“Git” Ginny quipped.

Hermione ignored her again, “and Harry brought the train of conversation right back. He asked if you two had split and looked a little disappointed that you hadn’t…”

Hermione trailed off. Ginny tried to control her breathing, control her heart rate, control the blush threatening to stain her cheeks. She shoved a too large bite of cake into her mouth to keep from saying anything, hoping a little that she would choke on it to hide her reaction to this information. 

“He’s been looking at you. Quite often, he’s not very sneaky you know…”

Ginny kept chewing but the blush she had been fighting overtook her then. She swallowed her bite, waiting for Hermione to say more, to say something definitive. But this seemed to be all the information she had to share. Granted, when Hermione had a hunch she was usually right. But this wasn’t enough. This wasn’t anything really. Actually, it was... something…

“That’s not fair, Hermione.” Ginny said softly, “It’s not fair to hint at something like that and give me a little hope, hope that after all this time he’s finally noticed me.” She looked up and met Hermione’s eyes, “It’s not fair to Dean either. He hasn’t done anything wrong. I’m over Harry, we’re friends now. He’s allowed to care that I don’t get dumped, that doesn’t mean he fancies me.”

“You’re saying two different things you know.” Hermione said, matter-of-factly. Leave it to Hermione to blow past your moment of vulnerability with cold hard facts. Ginny took comfort in another bite of cake. “If you’re over him, like you said, why do you feel like it’s not fair to you? Why would you feel any hope?” Hermione paused for a tick, letting her implications dangle between them before continuing, “Not fair to Dean maybe, yes, he’s a bit out of his depth in this competition.”

“It’s not a competition. I’m with Dean.” 

“Right now, maybe. But are you really happy with him, Ginny?”

“We’ve rowed. So what? So today I’m not happy with him. Like I said Hermione, he hasn’t done anything wrong. I’m not going to chuck him because you caught Harry looking at me.” She began moving her spoon around the plate collecting frosting. 

“I didn’t say that” Hermione cast about, the knowing look was gone, she seemed to realize that Ginny not greeting this information with enthusiasm. 

“Well, what did you expect me to do with this?” Ginny asked. “Hop downstairs and kiss Harry in front of the entire Common Room?”

Hermione snorted, “Wouldn’t that be a sight? No, I just, I thought you should know Ginny. Know that he’s noticed. Know that something has changed.”

“What difference does that make? I can’t do anything about ‘looks’, and, I’m with Dean.” She filled her spoon still higher with frosting, trying to grab all the globs of sweetness left into one perfect bite. 

Hermione looked at her for a while. Then stared down at the plate between them, the slice of cake mostly gone save for some massacred chunks of sponge and the frosting filled spoon Ginny was scraping around. The knowing look reappeared. 

“I suppose it’s the difference between settling for chocolate cake, when,” Hermione pulled her wand, and the spoon from Ginny’s hand. She held it flat and closed her eyes before performing a complicated looking swishing motion, and handing Ginny her spoon back, “you could have ice cream.” The perfect bite of frosting Ginny had been crafting had been transfigured into a delicate swirl of chocolate ice cream.

Ginny took the spoon back and looked at it for a long moment before finally raising it to her lips for a bite. She closed her eyes and relished in the coldness, the sweetness. She was quiet for a moment, keeping her eyes closed. 

“You mean to tell me,” she whispered, trying to sound annoyed, but she was quite delighted by both the magic and the implications of their conversation, “you could have transfigured this whole cake into ice cream and we’ve been settling this entire time?!”

“I love it when you prove my point”

Ginny snorted but said nothing.

“You’re right. It’s not fair to Dean. But Dean is cake, and Harry is ice cream.” Ginny heard a spoon scraping the plate, and she opened her eyes to watch Hermione collecting the bits of sponge on her spoon. She performed the same motion again and her spoon held a dollop of ice cream, “Dean is nice, but does he make you happy? Truly, blissfully, happy, Ginny? Does he get you, really get you? If he makes you happy, be happy. But, if he is just cake,” She held her spoon up as demonstration, “don’t just keep scraping away, when a little bit of effort and you could have ice cream.”

Hermione took a bite, and scrunched her nose slightly. “Was yours cold? I think it’s a bit easier with frosting, I shouldn’t have gone non-verbal for that one.”

Ginny laughed and slung her arm around Hermione’s shoulder, “So what should I do?”

“You don’t have to do anything Ginny. You don’t have to be in a hurry. But take time and decide if Dean makes you happy. If he does then, Harry’s loss, he’s a prat and too slow to figure things out sometimes. But, if Dean is cake, don’t stick with cake. and Harry be damned. You deserve ice cream even if that ice cream isn’t Harry Potter.”

“Thanks, Hermione.” They sat in silence for a moment more, “Now about my brother… would he be chocolate, or strawberry ice cream to match our hair?”

Hermione swatted at her and Ginny dissolved into laughter.


End file.
